Scotland’s higher education minister has urged universities to sever ties with staff who “repeat the twisted rhetoric” of President Putin.
Jamie Hepburn said spreading Kremlin propaganda was “unacceptable” after Tim Hayward, an Edinburgh University professor, was accused of being a mouthpiece for Putin. Hayward has vigorously denied the claim.
He shared claims on social media that a maternity hospital destroyed in an airstrike by Russian forces was being used by Ukrainian “radicals”. Dmitry Polyanskiy, a Russian representative to the United Nations, had tweeted: “We warned in our statement back on March 7 . . . that this hospital has been turned into a military object by radicals.” No evidence was offered.
Hayward, a professor of environmental political theory, replied: “As long as we’re still able to hear two sides of the story we should continue striving to do so.”
Robert Halfon, the chairman of the Commons education committee, named Hayward among academics spreading “pro-Putinist propaganda at some of our leading universities”. Hayward said he was “emphatically not pro-Putin”, adding: “I believe misunderstanding and one-sidedness hampers peace efforts and exacerbates conflicts.”
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Commenting on Hayward’s tweets, Hepburn said: “Any attempt to repeat the twisted rhetoric and disinformation of Russian authorities about their brutal and wholly unjustified actions in Ukraine is unacceptable . . . I will continue to encourage all institutions to review their operations for links and connections to Russia, however indirect, and for them to sever those.”